‘Tatang’ Henry Sy Sr’s legacy lives on

SM commemorates late founder’s birth month

MANILA, Philippines — It has been three years since his death, but the legacy of Henry Sy Sr. – affectionately called “Tatang” by those who knew and loved him –  lives on in the various endeavors he and his family pursued through the years.

From retail and banking, to tourism and property development, the SM Group has dominated nearly all segments of its business ventures in the country, making it one of the largest conglomerates in Southeast Asia.

But it was not only Tatang’s legendary business acumen that made a huge imprint in the SM Group’s success story. It was the challenges he had to face during his childhood years that helped shape his passion for education and fueled his desire to learn more.

Born to learn,  Tatang was just 12 years old when he helped manage his father’s small sari-sari store in Quiapo, Manila and saw firsthand how difficult life was. Every night, they would clear the store countertops and turn them into makeshift beds for them to sleep in.

“Even when I was a young boy, I had a plan for my life,” Tatang once said. That plan began with an education.

So Tatang asked his father if he could go back to school to learn English. And going back to school for him meant going back to the very beginning—from Grade One. This was because he knew he needed to know the basics. Start from the ground up, he reminded himself.

At school, he asked his teacher if he could accelerate him if he performed well, and she agreed to move him up if his grades were above 90 percent. Within his first year at school and the summer that followed, he was able to finish Grades Four and Five. Five years later, he would complete his entire grade school education.

His early years in Manila had taught him how important education was to his family and his own future. Receiving an education allowed him to push on with his dreams for growth and prosperity.

Decades later, Tatang’s son Hans would take their high regard for the value of education to another level. The SM Group would become a majority owner of National University (NU) and help accelerate it to greater heights, innovating and enriching its academic offerings, enhancing its learning and sports facilities and programs, and establishing more campuses across the country.

In addition, the SM Foundation’s scholarship program funds the education of thousands of scholars, with the aim of developing the youth and giving them brighter opportunities for their own success. SM Foundation, through its scholarship program, provides deserving and qualified students with access to college education and technical-vocational studies since 1993. To date, it has produced more than 8,000 scholar-graduates.

The way SM continues to deeply value education mirrors the way Tatang himself placed importance on his own education as a young boy. On this Super Month of October, Tatang’s birth month, SM also celebrates the value of learning.

The SM Super Month campaign is SM’s biggest celebration across its well-loved retail brands, SM Supermalls, SM Store and SM Markets for the whole month of October.

It is a time when SM honors its roots by sharing the legacy of its founder, the visionary behind one of country’s biggest conglomerates today, during his birth month.

SM finds more reasons to celebrate with those who matter most – family and friends – with fantastic offers, amazing sales, and exciting events across its retail presence nationwide starting October 2022. Find your reason to celebrate this #smsupermonth.